As the crimson fire dragon suddenly closed in, Han Li merely smiled lightly, his finger in his sleeve trembling slightly. A streak of red light shot forth from his fingertip. At the same time, a thunderous sound echoed behind him, and a pair of silvery wings materialized, gently flapping. The brilliant silver light surged forth, and as the sharp claws, wrapped in the red glow, were about to strike him, Han Li vanished completely from the light. The red fire dragon swayed slightly, and the attack landed squarely upon him. Yet it came a little late. A soft cry of凄厉 and agony burst from the beast's mouth, as one of its claws pressed against half its face, blood flowing steadily from the fingers. The flying needle pierced straight through the dragon's face, emerging with a surge from the opposite side. Though the needle was exceptionally sharp, being forged from a fire-type spirit essence, its inherent divine power did not inflict significant harm upon the evil dragon. However, as the needle passed through the dragon's cheek, it instantly swelled several times in width under the subtle will of Han Li, creating a wound as wide as a thumb—deep and excruciatingly painful. But before the crimson fire dragon could erupt into fury, a thunderclap echoed behind it. Han Li suddenly materialized, raising his arm and sending a golden beam stretching a zhang long, charging straight toward the dragon. Yet the fire dragon felt a deep sense of unease, setting aside the pain on its face. Its tail flashed with crimson light, rapidly expanding in size, and sweeping across Han Li like a massive fan. Daguo didn't care about three or seven or twenty-one—first he launched a powerful strike that instantly reduced Han Li to a pulp. Han Li was taken aback. This creature truly lived up to its reputation as a celestial and terrestrial spiritual beast; its reflexes were astonishing. Ordinary human cultivators usually couldn't even react when attacked by Han Li's lightning stealth assault. As he thought this, his divine awareness stirred, and the golden sword aura tilted slightly, aiming first at the dragon's tail. Yet as soon as the two forces met, the golden aura sliced through the red one, striking solidly upon the tail. The crimson fire dragon's heart trembled, and it immediately gathered all its spiritual power into the tail, making the tail and scales glow transparently bright red. A tremendous roar erupted, and the golden and crimson light interwove, dazzling and intense. Han Li narrowed his eyes, blue light flickering within his pupils, and instantly discerned the situation. He closed his several flying swords into a single golden blade, yet failed to cleave through the tail completely. Instead, the blade split the scales and penetrated only one-third of the tail's thickness, temporarily blocked by a sturdy dragon bone. Han Li's eyes flashed as he pressed his hand seals, preparing to draw back his flying sword and strike again. Yet at that moment, a powerful suction surged from the dragon's tail,牢牢 trapping the sword in place and rendering it immobile. "Without your divine artifacts, I'll see how you can defend yourself!" With a mad laugh, the crimson fire dragon turned sharply and opened its mouth, red spear-like streaks flashing as a round orb the size of a fist gradually emerged and shimmered within its maw. "Dragon essence!" Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly, instantly recognizing the object. It seemed the beast, aware that a direct confrontation was no match for him, had seized the opportunity—while his life essence artifact was immobilized—determined to launch a direct assault by expelling its dragon essence. Han Li's face paled, then he roared aloud, his form suddenly blurring. A moment later, he flickered, and three identical versions of himself appeared, standing side by side. This scene naturally startled the Red-Fire Dragon蛟, who had not yet managed to discern the authenticity of the three attacks when simultaneously, the sleeves of the three Han figures rustled with scorn, and three golden streaks, each several feet long, burst forth from their sleeves at the same time, cutting straight toward the evil dragon. The evil dragon was taken aback, witnessing the three golden streaks converging from three different directions, his heart racing with panic. He could only hastily expel his inner essence to meet the central beam of light, while his two powerful claws flashed with red radiance, flaring out to seize the other two golden streaks. Although he had previously witnessed the sharpness of Han Li's flying swords, he did not believe all three golden streaks were genuine—certainly, just as the three opponents were, two were false and one true. If the true attack was intercepted by his inner essence, then his life would be safe; but if the true one was false, then his claws, though strong, would still surpass the dragon's tail in hardness. In that case, he would willingly sustain a severe injury to one of his claws, temporarily holding off the true sword, and would immediately expel his inner essence Alas, just as this thought took root in the demon's mind, a tremendous roar echoed, and the red glow formed by the demon's essence surged forth, pushing the golden light from the opposite side back several paces, revealing the true form of the flying sword. "The middle flying sword is indeed real," thought the red-fire dragon, heartened by this development. Yet, as this thought formed, two other golden glimmers simultaneously flared brightly, flashing swiftly and causing the two claws that had just been seized to instantly grow cold, followed by an unbearable, searing pain. Within a moment, the sharp claws were sliced in half by the golden light and then shot forward like lightning, striking the evil dragon. "Ah!" the demon cried out, her body shimmering with spiritual light, as she attempted to recoil and evade. But at that very instant, a purple lotus suddenly bloomed beneath her feet. As the shadow of the lotus passed, a surge of cold, all-encompassing energy erupted, making the dragon shiver with sudden chill and causing her form to momentarily hesitate. And in this brief delay, two beams of golden light burst forth with brilliant radiance, intersecting and cutting around the dragon's head, producing a crisp crack—immediately, the massive dragon's head rolled down from its neck. The thick scales at the neck proved utterly unable to withstand the blow. Earlier, Han Li had simultaneously pressed seals with his fingers concealed within his sleeve, channeling nearly half of his body's spiritual energy into the two flying swords, fully unleashing the overwhelming power of the Jing Gong, which instantly rendered the swords impervious to any resistance, almost invincible against all obstacles. At that moment, the other two figures of Han Li, shimmering with jade light, vanished completely, leaving no trace. As soon as the dragon's head had fallen, Han Li did not pause in his movements. With a sudden, decisive point of his finger toward the two swords, a thunderous sound erupted, and two thick golden arcs surged from the swords' surfaces, coalescing into a vast golden grid that descended directly upon the dragon's head. At the same time, a sudden flash of red light erupted from the severed neck of the Jiang尸, and a tiny red young Jiang dragon shot upward in a慌张 manner, only to plunge headlong into the golden net. When it realized something was wrong and tried to change course to escape, the grid had already closed completely, trapping it like a bird in a cage. The dragon's spirit and courage were shattered; it desperately spouted streams of crimson flames, striking against the golden net in an effort to break free. Yet, having anticipated this, Han Li merely sneezed coldly, making no move, while the grid rapidly contracted. In a short while, it reduced the dragon's spirit to a confined space just a few zhang in diameter. Instead of immediately exploding the grid to crush it as he would with ordinary cultivators, Han Li merely flicked his hand, and a small green bottle floated into his hands. With a simple gesture, he waved his hand toward the grid, and countless fine golden threads shot out from the network, spiraling and intertwining toward the center. The dragon's spirit desperately tried to evade, yet found no escape in such a confined space. In moments, it was tightly wrapped into a golden thread sphere no larger than a fist, completely unable to struggle anymore. As for the eighth-rank immortal dragon spore that had lost its master, naturally, Han Li would not forget it—carefully storing it in a jade box. Without the supporting power of the Red Fire Dragon now, the surrounding clouds of spirits and the sea of flames were gradually dispersing. Han Li then turned his gaze toward the other battle sites, and involuntarily furrowed his brow. The cultivators who had achieved the Jading stage were still holding their own, thanks to their greater numbers compared to the seven-rank evil dragon, and thus remained even, showing no signs of being overwhelmed. However, the Yuan-Infant stage man on the other side was in serious trouble—completely outmatched by the eighth-rank blue dragon, and now clearly struggling. "An eighth-rank immortal beast is something truly rare and hard to come by. Let's take care of this one as well," Han Li said to himself, his eyes flashing with cold determination, then his body shimmered with a vibrant green glow as he prepared to instantly take flight. "Han, don't be too eager—don't hold back." I already sense that other cultivators are approaching from this direction. If you delay any longer, you may not make it. The people from the South Sea Sect have invested so much effort in hunting down these evil jiao dragons—precisely for the eighth-rank beast—so if you all fall, they won't easily let go. "The South Sea Sect has arrived, and their movements are indeed swift. Well, that's settled! Though a bit of a pity, we'll just proceed then." Hearing this, Han Li was startled. After confirming the matter with his divine awareness, his expression darkened. Just as the last traces of the妖clouds dissipated, he vanished silently from his spot, his form fading into invisibility, and quietly departed. At that moment, the eighth-rank blue jiao dragon sensed the fall of the red-fire jiao dragon, grew furious, and launched an unrelenting, all-out assault. This sudden onslaught pushed the already heavily pressured Han to the brink of peril. The Han silently groaned, his retreat intentions growing stronger in his heart. At that moment, two spots in the distant sky flashed with luminous light, and then two groups of cultivators, each consisting of十余 members, surged toward the scene from opposite directions. The Eight-Level Blue Dragon immediately sensed the danger, swiftly suppressing his growing rage, and roared fiercely before diving straight into the sea without hesitation. The other Seven-Level Evil Dragons, hearing the roar, were equally startled and followed suit. However, this time, neither the Han cultivators nor the others would allow them to escape easily; they swiftly closed in, pursuing and纠缠 them relentlessly, preventing their smooth retreat into the sea. The battle grew ever more intense and fierce... Han Li showed no interest in the unfolding conflict. After flying a hundred li, he immediately activated his flight spell and continued toward the deep sea, without turning back. He needed to locate an uninhabited spiritual island on the sea surface where he could begin crafting the mechanical automaton bestowed by the Great Derivation Sovereign.